Careful with polls, reconsider lustration law, says Withers

TIRANA, Feb 4 – U.S. Ambassador John L. Withers II told Albania that June elections were a significant step which the tiny Balkan country should democratically undertake along its efforts to get integrated into the international institutions.
In an interview with VOA Albanian Service in Tirana Withers said,
“I think that these elections will take on a far greater role and significance Šperhaps than earlier elections,” he said. “The expectations for Albania to reach the standards of those countries with which it is aligned, become greater and greater. One of the key elements of a democracy is free and fair elections. We all know it is a matter of public record that Albanian elections have had problems in the past. Now, there is a real opportunity in June to leave all of that behind, to have elections in which the organization, the administration, the involvement of the people, and so many other things are right; it is within Albania’s reach. We are working very hard to help the government and people of Albania to make this election a giant step forward and to establish that essential basis of democracy here.”
The lustration law was another main topic he talked about.
The ambassador said Washington had pointed to problems in the constitutionality of the law and about the potential implementation of the law, which have also been raised by various institutions and bodies throughout Europe.
“We all hope that the Government of Albania will approach this law, will take a fresh look at this law, and avail itself of the assistance that all of us, who are friends of Albania, have offered.”
Withers also said that “Albania suffered a tragedy, the tragedy that occurred at Gerdec in which so many people, so many innocent people, lost their lives and so many innocent people were wounded and had their lives changed possibly forever,” he said, adding that “It is very important that the lives of those people be helped, to try to get it back to as close to normal as they can.”
But the ambassador also reminded the government of taking a limited role by stating, “When it comes to corruption, a universal problem and we have had just recently some very high-level corruption cases in the U.S., one should never be pleased as long as it continues to exist.”
Ambassador Withers also addressed the conflict with the TemA newspaper publisher by saying, “One of the absolute key elements of a democracy is a free press.”
“Americans and Albanians have had a special bond going back decades ago and that survived even the attempt of the communist regime to break that bond,” he said.